Can opener



Jan; 17, 1928. 1,656,515 H. GARR1soN CAN OPENER Filed Aug. 31, 1925 Patented Jan. 17, 1928.

UNITED STATES HERMAN eAnaIsoN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CAN DPENEE.

Application med August a1, 1925. serial No. 53,539.

. The object of thisv invention is,to providev fulcrum thereon, and a downwardly offsetV uppercut knife, which always extends somewhat beyond the fulcrum.

An examination of commercial openers of this type will show an almost uniform length of one inch for the cutting edge.

Referring to the drawing forming a part hereof:

Fig. l is a diagram which'shows in outline a side view of a knife such as I employ, with a cutting edge of one and one-half inches.

Fig. 2 shows a cutting edge with its usual length of one inch.

Fig. 3 is a side view of my can opener, showing the handle, l, the stock 2', set into the handle, and knife 3a, riveted to the stock. The cutting edges are indicatedby a double line. The upper edge is shown 35 with a reentrant curve at 9a, and the cutting edge is extended up the shank at "5a, so as to engage the tin at an advantageous angle at the beginning of each kerf. The jog at la serves to arrest the downward movement of the entering knife at the point from which it is to be moved forward into operative position. The prod 11, made from the same blank as the knife, may serve as a bottle opener.

Fig. l is a view of the front end, showing the grooved fulcruna, and applies equally to Figs. 3 and 6.

Fig. 5 shows at 7 a blunting of the forward part of the upper edge, the positional relation of the blade to the stock being determined by Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 illustrates by a top plan view a one piece construction for handle and stock, with the cutting blade laterally curved throughout its length, the fulcrum being loced on the bent vportion kof strip metal at A After the knife, in the process of inser-` tion, has reached the position shown by Figs. l and 2, it becomes necessary to bend `or break a. certain amount of tin in order to force the heel of the knife into the can. The amount of tin encountered in Fig. l will render insertion impossible.

I meet this difficulty by two modifications: I sharpen the back of the blade as at 8a so as to cut the obstructing tin, and blunt the .forward part of the upper edge as at 7a so as to afford a fulcrum for prying the knife down into the can.

Two other changes in the form of the knife, as usually made, are essential to its4 successful operation if it is to be much lengthened, viz: a lateral curvature of the blade, and a rearwardly concave outline of the upper cutting edge.`

I claim:

A can opener in the form of a lever of the second class, having a guiding fulcruin formed by a recess at the end of a handled stock, and a downwardly offset uppercut` knife secured by its shank to the stock and extending forward past the guiding fulcrum; the blade of said knife being laterally curvedn the direction of its length, having an additional cutting edge on its lower margin, and having its upper cutting edge rearwardly concave in outline; that part of said blade which projects forward beyond the guiding fulcrum having its upper marginal contour practically continuous in direction, and being provided with a blunt upper wall adjacent to the point of the blade; and the upper face of said wall having a lateral dimension substantially equal to the thickness of the bodyk of the blade.

i HERMAN GARRISON. 

